All Chapters of Romance In The Hockey Pitch: Chapter 1 - Chapter 10

Push.Glide. Turn. Again. My legs screamed. I didn’t stop. I couldn't stop. If I wasn't perfect, I was nothing.I checked my reflection in the glass.. Blonde hair, neat. Jersey , straight. The Captain’s rank sat heavy on my chest. I looked like a Simpson. A NHL legacy.My phone buzzed on the bench. I didn't need to look at the screen to know who it was.Dad: I saw the clips from yesterday's practice . Your backcheck is lazy. Fix it. The scouts don't sign lazy players. I gripped the phone until my knuckles turned white. I wasn’t a don, I was a project. I put the phone down and grabbed my stick. I wanted to hit something, I wanted to scream until the glass break.The heavy double doors of the arena slammed open. I knew the sound of those footsteps. "You’re going to wear out the ice before the rest of us even get a turn, Captain," a voice called out.It was Jax Miller.He was wearing his jersey half-tucked, his dark hair a disaster, and he was carrying his skates over his shoulder."Pr

Beside me, Jax shifted in his sleep. His foot brushed against mine under the blanket and I jumped like I had been burned, pulling my legs to the very edge of the mattress."Stop moving," Jax mumbled, his voice thick with sleep. "It’s about five in the morning, Simpson. Go to sleep.""I can't," I whispered, but he was already out again.I stayed awake until the sun began to peek through the dusty window. My head throbbed. I had to go to class. I had to go to practice. And I had to see Chloe, my girlfriend.7:30pmThe Friday night game against State was supposed to be our comeback. The arena was packed. My father sat in the front row of the VIP section. He didn't have a smile on his face. He never did. He just sat there with his arms crossed, watching my every move."Simpson! Miller! Get out there!" Coach Mike barked.I hopped over the boards and hit the ice. Jax was right behind me. We were the two best players on the team, but today, we were two strangers.The puck dropped. I won the

The bus ride to the away game in South California was supposed to take six hours. It was barely three o'clock in the afternoon, but the sky was a heavy. Outside the window, the rain was slapping against the glass.I sat in my usual seat near the middle of the bus, trying to focus on my playbook. I stared at the X’s and O’s until they blurred into black ink. It was hard to concentrate when the air inside the bus started to turn into ice. At first, it was just a draft. Then, the windows began to fog over with a thick layer of frost."Is it just me, or is it freezing in here?" Toby asked from the seat behind me. I heard him shifting."My toes are actually numb, Liam.""The heater is dead," Coach Mike announced from the front. He sounded exhausted."The driver is trying to fix it, but for now, stay bundled up. We aren't stopping. We have a game to play, and I’m not letting a broken fan stand in our way. Use your blankets. Use each other. Just stay warm."I pulled my heavy team jacket tigh

The party at the Alpha house was still on when I slipped out the back door. The bass from the speakers was a dull thud in my chest, and the smell of cheap beer seemed to hold on to my skin. I had spent the last hour standing next to Chloe, nodding at boosters and smiling for photos, but I felt like I was suffocating. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw the look on Jax’s face in that hallway. I saw the way he looked at Sarah, and the way he looked at me. I didn't go back to our apartment. I couldn't. The thought of that small, quiet room and that single bed made my throat go tight. Instead, I drove to the one place that had always been my sanctuary. The Northwood Arena was a dark shadow under the moonlight. I had a key because I was the Captain,a position my father had made sure I received on my first day. The air inside the arena was cold. It was the only smell that ever made me feel like I could actually breathe. I didn't turn on the big overhead lights. I sat on the wooden bench i

“You’re straight, Captain, aren’t you?” I was. I am.But as I stood in the tunnel waiting for the evening practice to start, I felt more like a ghost than a person.The atmosphere was thick. Since the news about the Theater department guys had leaked, the locker room talk was different. It was meaner. Sharper."Did you see the look on that guy's face when they told him to leave school for two weeks?" Toby laughed, adjusting his helmet as we stepped onto the ice. "Man, I'd rather take a puck to the teeth than deal with that kind of social death."I didn't answer. It was time for practice "Eyes up, Simpson!" Coach Mike barked from the bench. "You're playing like you're stuck in mud. Get your head in the game!"I tried. I really did. But every time I moved, I was aware of Jax. He looked perfectly fine.How could he do it? How could he be so calm?During a break in play, I skated toward the bench to grab my water bottle. My hands were still shaking slightly inside my gloves."You're ove